The four major championships have come and gone in 2025 with three new winners being crowned across the biggest events of the season. Rory McIlroy won his Masters in dramatic fashion this April, completing the career grand slam and punching his ticket into golf's most exclusive club.

The golf world hasn’t seen a Player of the Year race this captivating in a very long time. Both Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy have delivered the kind of seasons that get etched into golf history forever. Yet only one can claim the ultimate individual honor when the dust settles on 2025.

Rory McIlroy earned more respect from fans despite falling short in The Open Championship in his home country of Northern Ireland.

There was a moment in the middle of the afternoon Saturday at Royal Portrush where it still felt like anything was possible at the 2025 Open Championship. All scenarios were still on the table. Hope ran rampant around the property as the third round trundled on and player after player made birdie after birdie.

Scheffler won by four shots Sunday at Royal Portrush, his fourth major victory and first in an Open Championship.

The top-ranked golfer cruised to another dominant outing to claim the British Open. Scheffler, who entered the day with a massive four-shot lead, pushed it to seven at one point en route to his four-shot victory at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland. Nobody even came close to catching him.